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Wow, things have been very quiet around hear. All the contributors are gone, I’m not all that much in the cooking mood, and the site feels oh so neglected. Ah well, so is life.

This recipe is one that I create one day, it’s nothing too complicated. A family member requested it, and I promised to send it… then I forgot… then I felt bad for not sending it so I delayed on doing it even more. Finally, I’m getting off my butt to take care of this.

Anyway, here is what you’ll need.

2 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken thighs – cubed

1 small onion, diced

2 tsp of minced garlic

4 jalapeños, diced

1 bunch of fresh basil, 1 bunch of opal basil

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3/4 tsp sea salt

3 tsp marjoram

1 – In a large pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic and salt; sauté until brown.

2 – Add cubed chicken, stir every few minutes for about 10 minutes.

3 – Add marjoram and jalapeño, stir. Cook for roughly another 10 minutes until the chicken starts to slightly brown

4 – Tear your basil(s), and to the mix, and cook for another few minutes.

And you are done! The result is a dish that provides subtle flavor. The mix of basil, marjoram and jalapeño provide a bit of sweetness with a bit of kick.

Oh, and make sure you use the oil mixture as a sauce for the dish, it’s fantastic.

So here we are on “I-need-a-shortcut” night. This was perfect for a quick dinner or for something on-the-go. Using ground chicken breast is also a leaner alternative to beef but feel free to use ground sirloin if you so desire! The biggest shortcuts here are that you are using prepared pizza sauce and dough. If you haven’t noticed already I am usually picky about what I eat (as in low calorie = usually means fresh ingredients) and so these already prepped products came from a store that uses only fresh ingredients. So, naturally, I would encourage the same.

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 lb ground chicken

3/4 c prepared pizza sauce

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1/4 c chopped fresh basil

1 (13.8 oz) can refrigerated pizza crust dough

1/2 c shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 425.

2. Heat a large skillet over med-high heat and prep with spray. Add garlic and chicken to pan; saute for 5 mins or until chicken is no longer pink, stirring to crumble. Stir in pizza sauce and pepper. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 mins, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in basil. Let stand about 10 mins to thicken.

3. Unroll your dough onto a baking sheet coated with spray. Cut dough into quarters. Pat each portion into an 8 x 6 rectangle. Divide chicken mixture evenly among rectangles (place in center); top each serving 2 tbsp cheese. Working with one rectangle at a time, fold dough in half over filling (don’t worry about stretching it), pinching edges to seal.

4. Bake at 425 for 12 mins or until golden. Makes 4 servings.

These were delicious and filling! I would probably add more red pepper since I needed a bit more kick. And obviously the variations are endless here. Have fun!

For years I’ve enjoyed making pesto sauce. I remember on day simply thinking to myself “what would make a good pesto” and I started to experiment. I never used a recipe. this was one of the rare cases where my mind seemed to piece everything together. I had planned on making this dish Saturday evening but I was too sick, I just didn’t have the energy. Yesterday evening I found myself in a slightly better physical state so I decided to have a go at it.

For this dish you will need:

6 garlic cloves

1 bunch of fresh Basil

1 bunch of fresh Tarragon

1 bunch of fresh Radish greens

8 oz Grape Seed oil

4 oz Olive Oil

1 cup of fresh baby spinach

2 tbsp of hazelnuts, chopped

pine nuts

½ cup grated asiago cheese

8 oz fresh mozzarella, cut into small cubes

3 boneless, skinless, thin sliced chicken breast

1 Head of broccoli

1 yellow squash

1 box Fettuccine

Pesto Sauce

Put one 1 tsp of Olive Oil in a pan, heat, and roast the garlic cloves. You want these cloves to be BROWN. Not tan. Not lightly golden. BROWN on all sides.

Take your Fresh Basil, Tarragon and Radish Greens and chop in a blender. I tend not to use the thick stems of the leafs, but some people opt to. To me the taste ends up being too bitter when the stems are included. After chopped, remove from blender.

When nuts/cheese and oil have mixed where there are no large “chunks” add the previously mixed Greens as well as the garlic cloves and mix until you obtain the consistence you desire

Your pesto sauce is now done. You may be asking a number of questions about this, so let me try to head a few of them off to being. I use double the amount of Grape Seed oil as compared to Olive Oil because I have found that Olive Oil can be too strong at times. Yes, hazelnuts are used… Be careful not to overdo the usage as the flavor of hazelnut can overwhelm the sauce.

Stuffed Chicken with Mozzarella and Spinach

Pre-heat oven to 350

Transfer your pesto sauce out of your blender, if you have not done so already, and rinse out blender.

Add Spinach, Mozzarella and blend together

Lay out the chicken breast, add Mozzarella and Spinach filling to the breast, then spoon on desired amount of pesto sauce

Roll the chicken breast lengthwise, tie with kitchen twine

Place on foil covered baking sheet, spoon pesto over chicken

Bake for 35 to 40 mins

While it is usually easy to dry out chicken breast rather quickly, especially thinly sliced breast, remember, as this bakes the cheese in the chicken will melt out. This will help keep the moisture in the chicken.

While the chicken is baking, boil up the Fettuccine. I would suggest you boil the pasta in saltwater (a technique I just learned from JT, one of the other writers on this blog). This will add a subtile taste to the dish. Also steam up the broccoli and squash for about 10 minutes in about an inch of water.

Once everything is ready to be served, drizzle on extra pesto sauce and sprinkle grated asiago cheese and pine nuts to the dish.

Expect to have plenty of pasta and pesto sauce left over as this recipe makes roughly 3 servings. The overall taste to this dish is very well balanced. No one thing out does the other, and there are plenty of flavors to go around. There you go… Enjoy!